If convicted, Eric Moreno, 23, of Miramar, would face up to five years in prison for lying about what happened, Donnelly said. He has been suspended without pay. The main witnesses are three other deputies who saw Moreno sitting on the inmate`s head, Donnelly said.

``He was given the opportunity to recant (his statement), and he didn`t,`` Donnelly said.

Criminal charges are still being considered against other deputies because of their actions during the disturbance, Sheriff`s Office spokesman George Crolius said.

Moreno was released from jail on Tuesday afternoon after posting $1,000 bail. He declined to comment.

Details of the scuffle remain sketchy. According to an incident report, a major disturbance erupted on March 4.

Juveniles, all being held in serious crimes, were trying to kick the window out of their cell door on the fifth floor, the report states.

Some of the inmates were taken out of their cells and shackled for their own protection, the report states.

Sheriff`s officials said at the time that as many as 19 juveniles were shackled to tables and other furniture during the disturbance. And they said some inmates may have been abused by the guards.

One inmate said he was forced to urinate on the floor because deputies would not permit him to go to the bathroom, said a consultant hired to review conditions in the jail.

The inmate said that after he wiped up the urine with his shirt, he was forced by guards to put the shirt back on.

Another inmate was forced to take his pants down and was struck repeatedly with a deputy`s belt, the consultant`s report said.

``People who knew better were watching what was going on but felt powerless to stop it,`` said attorney Christopher Cloney, who represents inmates in their ongoing lawsuit to curb crowded conditions in the county`s jail system.

Cloney, who hired consultant E. Eugene Miller of Washington, D.C., to do the report, said the inmates did nothing to deserve shackling.

``All these kids were doing was making noise,`` Cloney said. ``They weren`t destroying anything. There`s nothing in there to destroy. There was no riot in progress.``

Sheriff`s officials said no one was seriously injured in the disturbance.

Moreno, a 1986 graduate of Miramar High School, had received high marks from his superiors. In February, he received a letter of commendation for rushing inmates out of their cellblock after a fire was discovered.

``He follows orders without question and supports his supervisor,`` Sgt. Dean Lyon wrote during an evaluation of Moreno. ``He is a very conscientious employee.``